Национальный конгресс профсоюзов Сингапура

Singaporean national trade union centre

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), also known as the Singapore National Trades Union Congress (SNTUC) internationally, is the sole national trade union centre in Singapore. NTUC is at the heart of the labour movement of Singapore, comprising 59 affiliated trade unions, 5 affiliated trade associations, 10 social enterprises, 6 related organisations and other enterprise partners. It helms May Day celebrations and organises an annual rally in support of workers' solidarity and commitment to tripartite partnership. The NTUC has had a symbiotic relationship with the People's Action Party (PAP) since its inception in 1961.

The NTUC was established in 1961 when the Singapore Trades Union Congress (STUC), which had backed the People's Action Party in its successful drive for self government, split into the pro PAP NTUC and the leftist Singapore Association of Trade Unions (SATU). The SATU collapsed in 1963, following the government's detention of its leaders during Operation Coldstore and its subsequent official deregistration on 13 November 1963, leaving the NTUC as the sole trade union centre. Currently, over 98% of union members are in unions affiliated with the NTUC. After the PAP's decisive electoral victory in 1968, the government passed the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act of 1968, which severely limited workers rights to engage in either direct collective bargaining with employers, industrial action or strike action. From 1969, the NTUC adopted, in its own words, "a cooperative, rather than a confrontational policy towards employers". Relations between the PAP and NTUC are very close, and have often resulted in members holding office in both organisations at the same time. The NTUC's late founder, Devan Nair, was a PAP stalwart and later served as President of Singapore. Ong Teng Cheong, the first elected President of Singapore, served as the secretary general of NTUC, and the country's deputy prime minister, concurrently until his presidential election. Lim Boon Heng and Lim Swee Say, the previous secretaries general, also became cabinet ministers. As of 4 May 2015, Chan Chun Sing took over as Secretary General from Lim Swee Say, who left the NTUC to become Minister for Manpower. As of 22 May 2018, Ng Chee Meng took over as Secretary General from Chan Chun Sing, who left NTUC to become Minister of Trade and Industry. The NTUC reached its target of 1 million members in 2021.

Prior to NTUC's formation in 1961, Mahmud Awang, President of the Singapore Trades Union Congress (SATU) disbanded SATU to form NTUC, helming it as the caretaker president, before Ho See Beng became NTUC's first president. In OfficePresident1961 — 1966Ho See Beng1967 — 1970Peter Vincent1970 — 1979Phey Yew Kok1979 — 1981C. V Devan Nair1971 — 1985Peter Vincent1985 — 1986George Chua1986 — 1997Oscar Oliverio1997 — 2011John De Payva2011 — 2015Diana Chia2015 — 2023Mary Liew Kiah Eng2023 — K Thanaletchimi

In OfficeSecretary General1961 — 1965C. V Devan Nair1965 — 1966Steve Nagayan1966 — 1967Ho See Beng1970 — 1979C. V Devan Nair1979 — 1983Lim Chee Onn1983 — 1993Ong Teng Cheong1993 — 2006Lim Boon Heng2006 — 2015Lim Swee Say2015 — 2018Chan Chun Sing2018 —Ng Chee Meng

59 Trade Unions and 3 Trade Associations are affiliated to the National Trades Union Congress. The affiliated unions can be broadly categorised under Industrial Sector, Service Sector, Public Sector Unions and Omnibus Unions.